Ema’s Digital Trends for 2017

I’ve been focused on the power of digital media for more than twelve years, and its promise is clearly continuing to grow. Here in the Middle East, we’re now seeing digital transformation really evolve from a trend to a central component of business strategy. Any business that does not place digital firmly at the center of its growth strategy runs the risk of increasing irrelevancy in the eyes of its customers and the market at large.

So, what do I see as key trends here in the region for 2017?

1. Real Experiences, Real Time

According to e-marketer’s 2016 Social Media Penetration report, 40% of the time spent by smartphone users in MENA is social time?—?mainly on Instagram and SnapChat. Brand managers wanting to showcase real time content in their communications need to plan well in advance. Be confident in your brand’s personality and value proposition, then match those characteristics to the best-fit communication channels and content styles. It’s the spur-of-the-moment social connection that’s important?—?making people and connections real will help your brand stand out.

2. Beyond Reality

If anyone still doubted the power of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to connect with consumers, the success of the Pokemon GO app has laid those doubts firmly to rest. Once the sole province of the hardcore gamer, these technologies are now front and centre for mainstream consumers, providing new ways to connect and deliver unique, memorable interactions.

Marry these new opportunities with the growing popularity of workplace gamification, and I expect to see gamification go from footnote to core business strategy.

3. Home-grown Digital Superstars

Ease of connectivity plus social relationships equals accessible influencers, and that’s a model that’s gaining importance in MENA. According to BPG Cohn & Wolfe, more than 70% of UAE residents aged 18–40 will poll their circle of influencers before making a purchase, and up to 50% of all purchasing decisions involve word-of-mouth recommendations. So identifying and targeting those influencers with the right messages/offerings presents a powerful marketing opportunity.

4. Beating the Ad Blockers

Mobile ad-blocking browser add-ins are increasing their market penetration as fast as digital advertisers are filling small-screen real-estate. It’s time to get creative and build the kind of campaigns that act like part of the social conversation, not like a hard sales pitch?—?another reason that targeting peer influencers is so important.

5. Wearing the Web

Smart watches and fitness wearables are just the beginning. Research firm Frost & Sullivan is expecting wearable shipments to double over the next few years in MENA. And with growing ubiquity comes growing marketing opportunities. Companies can start to pick experience-based channels to deliver their messages. Have a new line of running shoes? Push the benefits through Bluetooth headphones designed for runners and invite direct feedback via an app embedded in the runner’s media player.

6. Real-time Messaging, All the Time

Thanks to the near-universal presence of smartphones, texting and instant messaging have merged into a seamless, all-encompassing communication environment. By 2020, e-Marketer expects there to be 173+ million mobile messaging app users in MENA and a staggering two BILLION around the world. Businesses that are not embedded in those conversations will to all intents and purposes not exist.

7. Video, Video, Everywhere

THE mobile communication platform is video. Real-time video can take all participants right inside the sharing experience. And it’s clearly an experience that resonates in MENA?—?310+ million YouTube video views happen every day, making the region second only to the United States in mobile video usage.

8. Seamless Content Delivery

Multiple device ownership?—?computers, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, and the every-growing Internet of Things?—?is ratcheting up users’ expectations of content. According to Google, 78% of people believe owning multiple devices has improved their lives, but that belief is tempered by an expectation that the content delivered to those devices is optimized for quality of appearance on each device.

9. Social Conscience Meets Brand Marketing

Simon Mainwaring noted in a recent Forbes Magazine article that 71% of consumers would help a brand promote its products and services if a socially beneficial cause or purpose was attached to that brand. I call this Marketing 3.0, or Know Your Why, and one might even say it’s a first step into a post-consumer-driven marketplace, where brand values become more important than brand products.

10. E-Commerce Becomes Me-Commerce

Here’s where those personal circles of influence come back into play. The e-commerce sector in MENA has soared well past the $10 billion mark, and much of the recent growth is coming from the influence of individual social networks?—?particularly when it comes to fashion. You just have to look at the impact of locally produced shows like Harpers House of Bazaar and Fashion Forward at d3 to see the power of “people like me” driving the engagement and ultimately sales of brands both locally and internationally.

So what does all this mean?

In many ways, it’s a stark reminder that the customer is still king, or queen, and much more powerful than ever before. Ensuring the optimum customer experience at any and every touch point must be the goal of every digital marketer in 2017. It’s no longer a one-time experience?—?anywhere and everywhere a customer can interact with a brand that experience must be consistent, it must be appropriate, and it must be positive.

So as we all sit back and take wait to see what the new President of the free world will do next, I would love to hear your thoughts and your top trends for the Digital scene here in the Middle East and beyond. What resonates above in your markets? How do we compare? I’m always fascinated to hear from people on what they’re seeing, great work that we should all participate with. As always do let me know if you agree or not with any of the above!

And finally, I wish each and every one of you a healthy and successful year in 2017!